Eye of the Storm
by i-love-thesauri
Summary: tonykate Washington DC is ravaged by storm weather. A Tate fic. Sorry about slow updates, but I'm needing inspiration, something I can only get from watching the show. I promise, they'll be faster after christmas!
1. Chapter 1

Two hours

Two hours. Kate checked her watch for what could have been the hundredth time since sitting down at her desk that morning. She looked to her right and noted the large stack of paperwork that was covering her workspace; the result of a case they had been working on for a week and only solved the night before.

'_Why do I insist on showing up early every morning?_' she wondered to herself, '_not even McGee is in yet…_' The amount of sleep she had had the night before, left her wondering if it was worth going home at all. Staring at her computer screen, Kate didn't notice the man walking towards her until the slamming of more paper brought her out of her trance.

"Morning Gibbs…"

"Kate."

'_Is that all I get? Not even a good morning?_' she thought, '_but it is Gibbs…_' her thoughts wandered back to where she would rather be at that moment – in her nice, warm bed.

"You want a coffee?" Gibbs smiled. '_Wait, Gibbs smiled? And he's asking if I want a coffee. Something is wrong, it has to be_' Kate thought again. "Kate? Do you want a coffee or not?"

"Uh, yeah, thanks Gibbs," she replied when she finally remembered how to speak.

A disgruntled McGee entered the room, and much to his dismay, was then ordered to get the coffees for Gibbs. A mumbled sentence along the lines of 'stupid morning coffees…' was heard by Kate, who smiled to herself. She then realised that Gibbs' gesture was not as self-sacrificing as she thought. '_Typical Gibbs. I bet he knew Tim was coming, too._' Again, she looked at her watch, sighing. It was almost 9 o'clock, and she had hours of paperwork ahead of her.

"Uh, Boss?"

"What McGee?" Gibbs looked up from his cell phone – not before bashing it against the corner of the desk – and glares at the probie.

"Y-your coffee?" McGee stutters. '_He still can't handle Gibbs_' Kate thinks, the corners of her mouth turning up for a second.

"Thanks, Tim" Kate smiles at him warmly before accepting the coffee from him. She hears Gibbs grunt in agreement from his corner of the bullpen.

"Kate, where's DiNozzo?"

"I don't know, Gibbs. Probably sleeping."

"Well, call him and get him over here!" he half yelled without noticing the elevator door sliding open.

"No need Boss!" Tony entered the room grinning. "Morning, Katie!"

"DiNozzo, what right have you got to be so happy in the morning? And stop calling me Katie!"

"Well, _Katie_," he emphasised her despised nickname, "it is a beautiful day!" Kate waited for the undoubted chauvinistic comment that would soon come out of his mouth, "and it was an amazing night too!" he exclaimed, before looking over her tired features, "worn out much, Kate?"

'_And there it is_' Kate thought. "You have to make everything about sex, don't you DiNozzo?"

"I like to think of it as an art," he replied with a wink.

"Of course you do… you are such a pig…"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am _not_!"

Gibbs interrupted their banter by slapping Tony over the head. "Back to work, DiNozzo."

"But you haven't given me anything yet!"

"If you had shown up on time like everyone else, that wouldn't be a problem!" Gibbs growled, walking over to Kate's desk and scooping more than half the papers up to shove at Tony. Kate grinned, catching Tony's eye. He glared in return as he sat at his now trashed desk. '_This is going to be a long day,_' he grimaced.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that day…

Later that day…

"So, Tony, how's that paperwork going?"

"Its fine," he replied through gritted teeth, glaring a hole through the computer monitor. Kate approached his desk with a soft smile on her face.

"Do you want some help?" she asked him sincerely. She had finished her assigned work half an hour ago, and had been watching him squirm and groan about missing his dinner date.

"Why would you want to help me? You look like crap; you should go home and sleep."

"Thanks, Tony. I really loved that compliment," she replied with sarcasm and turned around. Honestly, he hadn't noticed his slip up, and was quick to correct it.

"I'm sorry, Kate. You know I didn't mean it like that. I would really appreciate it," he smiled when she turned to face him again. "Please?" He had already missed his 'date'. Truth was, he had only told the group a time – he had never really had anyone to go with.

"Okay." Kate answered, '_It's not like I have anything better to do tonight. And spending time with Tony isn't that bad… wow, what's wrong with me?_' she sighed. This didn't go by unnoticed by Tony, who looked up at her worriedly.

"Kate? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. After all, some of that is my paperwork anyway."

"Yeah…I guess so." He watched her drag her chair over to sit beside him, and found himself distracted by their close proximity. Not that it was that close, it was just closer than he was completely comfortable with. She looked up at him and their eyes met, and he immediately snapped out of his gaze.

"Are _you_ okay, Tony?" she looked into his eyes again, and he swallowed.

"Y-yeah. Yes. I think I'm just hungry. And tired, you know?" She nodded, and Gibbs entered the room.

"Go. You can finish that tomorrow." They both looked at Gibbs with questioning looks. "Now. I don't need my agents living off caffeine. You need sleep. Go!" he barked, causing the two Special Agents to jump.

"Okay Boss"

"Thanks Gibbs" Kate grinned at Tony's astonished face before packing up her desk and grabbing her car keys. She spun around too quickly and stumbled, falling back into her seat. Gibbs walked up and took her keys, shoving them in his pocket.

"Tony, take her home. We can't trust her behind the wheel right now"

"Uh, Boss, nobody can trust you at any time" he grinned. He realised the fault in his words when he received another slap to the head. "Ow!"

"Take her. Go."

Tony nodded and helped Kate out of her seat. She had almost fallen asleep even in that small amount of time. He half guided, half dragged her to his car to go to his place.

Arriving at his apartment, Tony tapped Kate on the shoulder, shaking her.

"Katie? Kate, wake up. Come on, you can't stay in here." He nudged, trying to bring her out of slumber.

"Tonnnnyyyyyyyy…" she groaned, her eyes fluttering open. Realising where she was, she sat up. "Why are we outside your place? Gibbs said to take me home."

"I'm sorry," he blushed, "I thought you would want to sleep. I'll take you to your house…"

"No, its okay," she smiled, '_what am I saying? I can't stay at Tony's! Even if he is looking like that, all cute…wow, I must be really tired_' she scolded herself. "You have a couch right?"

"You can take the bed; I'll sleep on the couch. Unless you want me to join you?" he winked. '_Smart one, dumb one. You have to ruin it every time, don't you?_' Tony looked away and mentally slapped his head, ashamed.

"I can take the couch, its fine."

"Please, just take the bed. I'm trying to be nice here!" he countered, exasperated. He saw the shocked look on her face from his outburst, and smiled to soften his words.

"Okay. Thankyou, Tony." Smiling back, she watched him jog to her side of the car and open her door. He offered his hand to help her out, and she looked at it, confused, '_What is he doing? Oh, what the hell…_' "Thanks…" she whispered. He smiled in return, and guided her through his house and into the bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'll go get some clothes, okay

"I'll go get some clothes, okay?" Kate nodded as Tony turned around and walked into the wardrobe. She sat down on the end of the bed and listened to him searching through drawers, swearing under his breath. '_I can lay down for a little bit…just rest my eyes…_' she thought, not realising she was falling asleep.

"Here you g-" Tony walked back into the bedroom carrying an old t-shirt, and saw Kate sprawled on the bed, fast asleep. Grinning, he debated with himself whether or not he should wake her from her slumber. Deciding that she wouldn't be comfortable stuck in her work clothes, he crept over and nudged her shoulder. "Kate, Katie, you gotta stop falling asleep," he smiled to himself as she groaned again, "Kaaaaaattiiiieee…"

"What?!" she yelled in response, obviously not agreeing with his decision to wake her. He chuckled, and she hit his chest.

"Get dressed first. Then you can sleep as long as you want. Okay?"

"Fine…" she grumbled, opening her eyes only to glare at him. Refusing to look away, Tony challenged her in silence. '_Catch me if you can_' his eyes shone. Kate jumped up and pushed him out of the bedroom, locking the door behind her so she could dress.

"Katie, you know I'm not going to do anything! Let me in!"

"Go away, pervert!" she heard him laughing outside, and smiled too. She finished getting dressed and pulled back the covers on the bed, listening to him whining and knocking outside.

"Katie, I need a pillow! Let me in…pleeeeease?" Kate walked to the door and unlocked it, and he barged past her to jump on the bed. He lay down, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.

"Tony, what are you doing?" she gave him a confused look as he grinned.

"Nothing, Katie." He opened one eye to gauge her reaction. She walked over, and lay next to him, pulling the covers over herself as he lay on top of them.

"Night, Tony."

"Kate, what are _you_ doing?" he mocked her, though he was confused himself.

"I'm going to sleep. Take your pillow already, would you?" Tony continued to lie on the bed, not noticing that she had fallen asleep again. A few minutes later, Kate turned over, draping her arm over his chest and snuggling against him. '_Crap! Okay, Tony, think. If you stay, she'll wake up in the morning and yell at you. If you move now, she'll wake up and yell at you _now_. Stuff it, you can deal with it in the morning._' Tony closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Kate woke with a nagging suspicion she was holding something. Refusing to open her eyes, she tried to remember the previous night's events. '_I fell asleep facing away from…DiNozzo!_'.

"DiNozzo, if that is you, you are dead!" she mumbled to what she assumed to be his sleeping figure. She took a cautionary glance out of her eye, noting that she could see only white. Opening her eyes more, she realised she was clutching a pillow. "What…?"

Kate sat up in the bed when she heard a sudden clang and cursing coming from outside the room. Turning to the bedside table, she grabbed for a gun that wasn't there. "Crap!" she muttered under her breath, darting her eyes around the room to search for a weapon. She stopped her search when she heard another sentence from the kitchen and laughed.

"Where is the flippy thing?!" Tony yelled when he couldn't find the spatula for the fried eggs he was making for Kate. She had walked into the room as he was searching through the drawers under the kitchen island, catching him banging his head on the counter in frustration.

"Need some help?" Tony yelped at the mystery voice, turning to find Kate grinning at him.

"God, Kate. You scared me!"

"Tony, can I ask you a question?" He looked at her quizzically, raising his eyebrows to say 'go on'. "Why was I hugging a pillow?" He chuckled in response and turned back to the eggs that were now close to burnt. Kate walked around to step in front of him, urging him to answer her question. "Tony, why?"

"Uh, last night…you fell asleep and started hugging me…" Kate opened her mouth in shock, and he continued, "I couldn't move, so I kinda fell asleep too. When I woke up this morning, you wouldn't let me go until I replaced myself with…a pillow…"

"I did not hug you. There is no way that I would do that." He laughed again, grinning his DiNozzo smile.

"Yeah, Katie, you did. When I woke up this morning, you had your head on my chest and everything!" Kate hit him on the chest. "Yup, that was where your head was!" he laughed again, but was cut short when he could smell smoke. Tony turned around to see blackened eggs. "What do you say to McDonalds for breakfast?" he gave Kate a lopsided smile.

"Was that breakfast" he glared, and she smiled in return. Seeing her smile made him smile too, and they both cracked up in laughter. "Okay, I'll go have a shower, then I have to go home to change. _Then_ we can go to breakfast."

"Who said you get the shower first? It's my house."

"You have two bathrooms!"

"I know, I just didn't know you knew that… you sure you want to go in first? Coz we could share," he winked, receiving another punch, "or not! Jeez, Kate!"

"What one do I use?" she asked sharply.

"You can use the en suite. Just let me get some clothes first, okay?" He walked into the bedroom and rifled through his closet for his favourite shirt and suit. Kate followed a minute later, after fixing up the burnt eggs and the rest of the kitchen.

"Tony, I don't want to be late for work, alright? Please let me have a shower!"

"I'm gone, I'm gone…" he sauntered to the door, turning before he left the room. "Sure you don't want me to join?"

Her reply was quick, "Out DiNozzo!" and she closed the door to the bathroom. Taking off her shirt, she remembered to lock the door, wondering why she hadn't earlier. She immediately found that the door didn't lock. '_Typical DiNozzo. How else would he perv on people?_' She took a chance after a mental argument with herself, and continued to strip and enter the shower.

Tony washed up the pan he had attempted to use for breakfast, knowing that Kate would take longer in the shower than he would, before going into the main bathroom to shower himself.

Kate dressed into her clothes from the previous day and walked through to the lounge room, where the main bathroom adjoined. Tony walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, and Kate only just managed to avert her eyes. He noticed this, and cockily grinned at her. "Like what you see, Kate?"

"Eww, no DiNozzo. Didn't you take clothes in there?"

"Yeah, but I thought you'd prefer this attire more" he grinned again, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to fix it. This stretch caused the towel to lower a little, and Kate's concentration on not looking faltered. This was definitely noticed by Tony, but he had the sense not to mention anything. Besides, he could use it against her later, he thought.

"Tony, get dressed! We have to go. I need new clothes"

"You look fine, Katie!"

"I can't wear the same clothes I was wearing yesterday to work, Tony. I know you might do it, but I am not going to."


End file.
